Car door locking device



Nov. 21, '1939. ".1. CHRISTIANS'EN ET AL CAR DOOR LOCKING DEVICE Filed Sept. 25, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 (15% Zifi. Thom D5072 I. ATTORNEY myEN roRs John 67171521472502 N v. 21,- 3 J. CH RlSTlANS EN ET AL- 5 I CAR DOOR LOCKING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 25, 1936 i P5072 M ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES GAR DOOR LOCKING DEVICE John Christiansen and John B. D. Thompson, Berwick, Pa., assignors to American Car and Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 25, 1936, Serial No. 102,477 3 Claims. (01. 292-204) This invention relates to locking devices for doors in general and in particular to locking devices for folding car doors such as used on light weight rail cars, trolleys, and buses.

Previously constructed folding doors and the associated locking devices did not provide a sufficiently strong construction to withstand the heavy wind shocks incident to high speed travel or to properly safeguard the passengers who might lean against the doors.

It is an object therefore of this invention to provide a folding door which, when in the closed position, becomes a rigid portion of the side wall structure.

It is another object of the invention to provide a folding door with a locking device which, when in the locked position, fastens the two door parts together to form a rigid unit.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a folding door, the free edge of which may interlock with the door jamb to form a sealing and retaining joint.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an extremely strong controlling handle for folding doors which also forms a lock joining the parts of the door together to form a rigid unit.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view partly in section show-. ing the door in fully closed position by full lines and in open position by dash and dot lines;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational view showing the locking device;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 2 and showing the means for retaining the handle in unlocked position;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the lower free edge of the door and showing the bottom bracing member;

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of the lower corner at the free edge of the door with parts broken away to more clearly disclose the bracing members;

Fig. '7 is a sectional View taken on line 1-'! of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view through the top portion of the door and shows the upper guiding and bracing means; and

Fig. 9 is an elevational view of the upper free edge of the door showing the upper bracing means.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it is seen that the door is formed of two relatively movable parts A and B which when in the closed position block the passageway and form substantially a part of the wall C. For illustrative purposes the door is shown as mounted on a rail car of conventional design having a door opening therein formed by channel posts I0 and l I, header l2, and threshold I4. The vestibule is formed by securing sheets Hi to the door posts and one of these sheets is provided with suitable retaining means l8 to hold the doors in a folded position with the joined portion of the door adjacent step riser 26 as is clearly shown in Fig. 1. The side sheets of the car are extended past the door posts and into the door opening as at 22 to form a door abutment. To one of these extensions is welded a U-shaped sealing member 24, the web of which is secured to the adjacent door post I l and forms a pocket for the reception of the free edge of the door.

The door, as previously stated, is formed in two parts with the part or section B secured to door post l0 by'hinges 26 and provided with sealing means 21 adapted to engage the projecting edge of the car side. The other edge of this section is provided with a so-called piano hinge by which the part or section A is movably carried by part or section B. This hinge, as is clearly shown in Figure 1, has flanges 30 overlying the inner faces of the door sections, while the legs M are located between thesections thus placing the pivot 32 out-side of the door and-permitting sections A and B to be substantially parallel when in the folded position.

The free edge of section A has a relatively heavy U-shaped piece of rubber or other material 34 secured thereto by means of strips 35 and this rubber or other material will, when the door is closed, be located within the sealing member 24 and distorted sufliciently to form a. complete seal against the entrance of rain or other matter. The upper free edge of this section has bracket 36 secured thereto and this bracket carries roller 38 which closely engages overhead track lll formed by two angles secured to the door header (Fig. 8). This roller will cause the section to follow a definite path during movement of the door and will rigidly hold the upper portion of the door when in the closed position. Sealing strips 42 are secured to the upper edge of each section and prevent ingress of matter between the door and the door header which acts as a stop preventing any outward movement of the closed door. A lower stop member, preferably a casting 44, is secured to the lower free edge of the door and is provided with a suitably formed and braced lug 45 which is adapted to enter tapered socket 46 located within the sealing member and preferably formed integral with the threshold (Figs. 6 and 7). This lower stop will, of course, prevent any outward or inward movement of the lower portion of door section A.

It is thus seen that with the door sections hinged to the car and to each other as shown any outward movement of the door is resisted by the door header, the projecting edge of the car sheet, the upper guide, and the lower stop as well as by the sealing member. The door is also rigidly held against inward movement as a unit by the one set of hinges, by the upper guide member and by the lower stop, thus becoming practically a rigid part of the car side. In order that the door become a rigid part of the car it is only necessary to prevent inward relative movement between the sections and this is accomplished by the improved operating and locking handle now to be described.

A bearing plate 58 is secured to the inner face of section A and this has secured thereto, as by welding, a thimble 52 carrying an outer bearing plate 54 in a recess in the outer face of the door. An operating handle H is provided having a shank 55 adapted to extend through and have bearing in the thimble. The end of the shank is threaded to receive a retaining nut 58 which is located in the door recess and concealed by outer cover plate 58. The operating handle is shaped like a letter D with the short portion joined by hand grip portion 62 which parallels substantially the bracing portion 66, the latter portion also acting as a guard preventing injury to the operators fingers,

The portion of the handle opposite the shank is formed with a shouldered projection 66 adapted to engage segmental guides on the door sections and assist the shank in resisting any pull placed on the handle. The segmental guides 68, l0, l2 and it are each substantially Z shaped in cross section and have the inner flange secured to the door, While the web extends outward with the outer flange being located substantially parallel to the door surface (Fig. 3). The outer flanges of each pair are arranged facing each other and the free edge is curved substantially concentric with the shank axis thus providing an interrupted groove in which the shouldered projection 66 may move. The guide element iii has a portion of the outer flange arranged not concentric with the shank axis in order to provide a slight cam surface that will aid in the closing of the doors. In order to retain the operating handle in either the locked or unlocked position retaining means 82 and 8d respectively are provided each consisting of a spring 36 secured to the door and adapted to engage the shouldered projection of the handle (Fig. 4) Stops 88 and 90 are provided on segments 14 and 68 respectively to prevent movement of the handle out of the groove and to limit its movement to approximately 90.

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming the doors to be in the locked position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Rotation of the operating handle clockwise approximately one quarter turn will remove the projection 66 from its position between guides 68, E6 and place it between guides 12 and M which with a pull upon the handle will cause the joint between the door sections to move inward removing stop 45 from slot 46 and causing the roller to travel in track 40 and controlling the movement of the door to the fully open position. In closing the doors pressure is again applied to the handle and the doors brought to a closed position with the door unit forming a substantially rigid part of the. car. Rotation of the handle in a counter-clockwise direction will cause projection 66 to engage guides 68 and 10, the latter of which has a cam surface causing a tightening of the connections and setting up a strain that tends to force the door sections toward the outside and against the header stop. It is obvious that the only movement the closed doors can have is about the hinge pivot 32, but this is resisted by the handle which, being in the locked position, forms a rigid tie between the door sections and, since the central joint cannot move, the door becomes a rigid part of the car side due to the interengagement of the door and the car.

It is obvious that various modifications and. rearrangements of parts will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art but all such changes are contemplated as fall within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

i. In a locking device for hinged door sections, guideways on each section and means for holding said sections against relative movement and for operating the sections to and from closed position comprising a handle member overlapping the hinged connection when in door holding position, said handle member being substantially U-shaped in plan and having one of its leg portions pivoted to one door section and its other leg portion provided with a retainer adapted to engage within the guideways, said handle member being shift-able out of engagement with the guideway on the adjacent door section and into engagement with the other guideway to permit swinging of the door sections on their hinge, and brace cans joining the leg portion of said handle in ber together and adapted to overlap said guideways and hinged connection when said handle is in door locking position.

2. In a locking device for hinged door sections, guideways on each section and means for holding said sections against relative movement and for operating the sections to and from closed position comprising a handle member overlapping the hinged connection when in door holding position, said handle member being substantially U-shaped in plan and having one of its leg portions pivoted to one door section and its other leg portion provided with a retainer adapted to engage within the guideways, and a hinge guard extending between the legs of said handle member and constituting a brace for said member.

3. In a locking device for relatively movable normally contiguous members the combination of, guideways on each member, handle means substantially U-shaped in plan having one leg pivoted to one of said relatively movable members and having its other or free leg provided with a retainer, said retainer being adapted to engage within said guideways to prevent relative lateral movement between the guideways and handle, said handle operating to lock said member in contiguous relationship when said retainer is in engagement with one of said guideways, and a brace extending between the legs of said handle and connected to said free leg adjacent said retainer, said brace extending across the contiguous edges of said members when said handle is in member locking position.

JOHN CHRISTIANSEN. JOHN B. D. THOMPSON. 

